Some of the items up for auction at Wright Auction House in Chicago on October 6 might make potential buyers of a certain age nostalgic for their New York City youth. When the pieces were designed by Philippe Starck for Ian Schrager for the Paramount and Royalton boutique hotels in Midtown Manhattan were first unveiled over a decade ago they were like nothing that the hotel industry had ever seen before. Now Starck's avant-garde design prototypes can seem almost tame. Almost. They still have a whimsical appeal that holds up. Could Starck be a classic? The bar stools shown above were originally designed for the Royalton Hotel and are estimated to sell for $2,000–3,000. The NY Times talked with Richard Wright, the auction house owner, who said that Starck hasn't come a collector's favorite because he's so ubiquitous but this is the chance to buy the originals that spawned a furniture army or at least a few glamorous hotel nights.